WHO Nursey & Dex •
WHERE First dates? •
WHEN Prior to the Snowglobe Incident
“I don’t know if I’m being slick or if you’re just a lot less slick than I thought you’d be,”
WARNINGS None really?
Nursey didn’t “date” much. He hung out. He netflixed and chilled. He hooked up. But when it came to interest in someone he actually wanted to date, he tended to fuck up somewhere between flirt and the actual asking.
He still couldn’t quite believe this was happening. And he’d have preferred to go somewhere a little more romantic. But Griddy’s had charm and it wouldn’t get them arguing about money. Not to mention, he didn’t especially have a lot of that here.
He’d told Dex to meet him at the donut shop because he didn’t want their hausmates seeing them leave together - at night - in clothes the sharper ones would know were date clothes. It would lead to questions that Nursey wanted to put off for just a few dates. Just so he didn’t end up staring down a panic attack before he could even mess this up the old fashioned way.
He’d shown up a little too early though and now he had the remains of three straw wrappers in front him. He picked up a fourth straw and ritually removed the wrapper to rip it into squares.
“Hey, sugar, you know you gotta come up to the counter to order…,” the smiling woman behind the counter said.
“Oh, uh, sorry. Just waiting for my...friend to show up.” He swept the trash on the table into a small pile and tugged at the neck of his green cashmere sweater, flashing a handsome smile. “I promise we’ll order a ton.”
Dex didn’t really know what to wear. He had some nice clothes, but those were like- the clothes he wore to the end of year dinner and mini awards ceremony, not the kind of clothes you wore on a date with somebody you’d known for years. He checked he had a few notes in his wallet and shoved it in the pocket of the slightly skinnier-than-usual jeans he’d picked out, eventually settling on a nice-ish shirt that he didn’t wear to work in and a designer sweater that he’d gotten from a thrift shop for five dollars a few years before Samwell.
He wrinkled his nose at himself in the mirror and decided it would have to do, wanting to grab something on the way to the date because it was a date. With Nursey. And maybe Dex wasn’t really a romantic person or a cheesy person but Nursey liked poetry and things like that so after escaping the Haus without running into anybody who’d question his attire he stopped by at a flower shop on the way, hesitating over the options. He wanted to stay low-key, so an actual bunch of flowers was probably out of the question and he wasn’t sure how much he trusted Nursey to remember to water something so he settled on a succulent in a handmade planter, carrying it the rest of the way to Griddy’s.
He smiled a little when he saw Nursey pulling apart the wrapper of a straw, a little glad that he wasn’t the only one who was kind of nervous as he moved to take a seat across from him, setting down the succulent between them and promptly realising what a weird first date gift that was. “...Um. Flowers were too obvious?”
Despite the bundle of nerves in his stomach, Nursey’s smile was as smooth as ever. He sat up straighter and then reconsidered, slumping elegantly against the booth to stretch his arm out across it instead. Did he look cool? Probably. Did he also look like an obnoxious hipster who spent too much money on his sweater? Absolutely.
“Aw, Dexy, you brought me a plant.” He reached out to spin the little pot around, his charming smile easing more comfortably into genuinely pleased. “That’s mad cute. I--” The smile slipped and he looked sheepish. “I didn’t bring you anything. I was going to bring your freckles poem but…” Nursey leaned forward and lowered his voice to a warm whisper. “...I didn’t want to make you turn bright red in front of all these witnesses.”
“I didn’t- expect you to bring me anything, I just wanted to,” he reassured quickly and then promptly went bright red in front of all of their witnesses, which were mostly uninterested patrons of Griddy’s Donuts that were there for their donuts, not the world’s most awkward first date taking place. “Oh my god,” he murmured, burying his face in his hands and running them through his hair. “Nurse, you are such a dick,” but there was no heat behind it anymore, his smile hidden in the heel of his hand.
“Yes, I got you a plant. And you promised I could have donuts, so- lets get something?” At least then he’d have something to do with his hands that wasn’t embarrassing, his heart thudding in his chest more than it had any right to. It was Nursey, why was he so… nervous?
Nursey looked way too pleased with himself. The ground felt a little steadier, teasing Dex. He was stupidly charmed by the way the tips of Dex’s ears were even red, like the whitest white boy that ever whited. He pushed up out of the booth and stood next to the table, subtly grazing his fingers from the potted plant to Dex’s hand. It was so quick, it was like it didn’t even happen, but it made a little rush zip through his blood.
“Listen, you sit here and cool off and I’ll get us some coffee and grub, okay?” He pointed at Dex. “Okay? Don’t make a run for it.” Turning to the counter, he smiled and ordered a half-dozen donuts and two coffees. The employee who’d spoken to him before - her name tag read “Penny” - followed him back to the table with a coffee carafe and two mugs. Nursey carried the box of donuts, setting them down next to the mugs.
“I have hunted and gathered. Are you proud, Poindexter?”
Dex felt like an idiotic teenager again when Nursey’s fingers just brushed against his for a brief moment and he wondered briefly if this was another of those Vallo things, like when Jack suddenly turned into the weirdest Quebecois-Southern baker that Dex had ever met. He managed to calm himself down a little by the time Nursey returned and scoffed softly at his statement, picking up the donut and pretending to examine it.
“This one’s clearly got an old injury,” he gestured to a tear that had probably appeared when they’d stuck together. “Not a healthy adult male, but I suppose it’ll do,” he smirked as he bit into the donut, resting his head on his free hand. “I’m still kind of wondering if this is one of those jokes where the popular kid asks the weird kid on a date to embarrass him. By reading him sweet poetry, I guess.”
“You’d prefer I brought you only the fittest donuts, cut down in their prime, I see.” It was very tempting to sit down on Dex’s side of the table. Nursey could swing an arm around behind him and see if that sweater was soft. Dex was playing along so easily, but Nursey still felt like he was walking a tightrope. It probably had something to do with Dex bringing him a plant.
Nursey dropped down into the opposite booth bench and propped one foot up on Dex’s side to tap against Dex’s hip, instead.
“Okay, one - If I wanted to embarrass you, I’d have done it at the haus with witnesses who never forget,” Nursey teased, holding first one finger up then a second. “And two...” He wanted to keep joking, but he got distracted staring at Dex in his sweater with his head in his hand.
“Two...you look...really, really good.” He cleared his throat and reached for way too many sugar packets. “Only like...five percent weird.”
"Well, if I eat a sick or injured donut it might be bad for me," he teased, considering he'd already finished the first donut and had refrained from grabbing any more for the sake of being polite. Donuts were an odd first date food, but this was an odd first date and an odd… overall situation. He really, really wanted this, but he didn't know how Nursey wanted it.
Then he complimented him directly after chirping him and Dex felt himself relax a little, something in him settling as he smirked. "I mean- you're right, that would have embarrassed me but they absolutely would not have stopped chirping the both of us for the rest of our lives, Nurse," he rapped his knuckles against the top of his shoe gently instead of chastising him for putting his foot up on the furniture, taking the carafe to pour them both coffee - but he left room for sugar and milk in Nursey's, whereas he just started drinking his as it was. He'd gotten a taste for sweet drinks working at Annie's, but right now, he wanted to cement himself as somebody who could drink black coffee.
When did he even become somebody who knew this much about Nursey's preferences? "Five percent is good. You- you look really good, too. I like your hair like this."
Nursey’s smile got a little warmer every second. Maybe he was a sucker for flattery, whatever. He enjoyed the rush while he pulled his mug closer so he could make it drinkable. How Dex could drink it without anything in it was beyond him, but this was a difference between them that he could enjoy. And, more importantly, chirp.
“Well, thank you, William,” he smirked, stirring his coffee. “You know they don’t charge for sweetener, right?” He lifted his cup slowly - obnoxiously slowly - to his mouth, watching Dex over the rim as he did. His palms were a little sweaty and he was pretty sure he was going to sound like a dumbass, but fuck it. He was going for the flirtatious joke and hoping for the best. “Or are you hoping to get a little hashtag sugar sugar from yours truly?”
Honestly, he was glad that he didn't call him fucking Billiam, staring a little too openly for his own liking as Nursey lifted the mug to his mouth. The joke did sound stupid - really fucking stupid, honestly, and Dex couldn't help but laugh at the concept and execution. It was cute, awkward and he shook his head, taking a very pointed sip from his mug. "I think you should know my brain just supplied a terrible, terrible response to that which would be disgusting under most circumstances and I'm honestly protecting you by not saying it," he smirked. "But- I don't need a little hashtag sugar sugar," that clearly pained him to say, "When you're as sweet as I need?" And then he started laughing again because it was very much cheesy and stupid but he was… enjoying himself. He might not have been a poet, but he had a pretty good hold on puns and terrible jokes, at least. "Or you could just kiss me. I mean- if you wanted to."
Nursey snorted laughter into his coffee so strongly, he nearly inhaled some of it. He’d hoped to make Dex laugh, but to get that and a cheesy comeback was way better. And not just because it had led to the words you could just kiss me coming out of Dex’s mouth.
“Damn, that was kind of smooth.” He squinted at Dex over his mug. “You’ve been hiding some game.” His gaze dropped to his coffee and then shifted to the rest of the diner. It wasn’t like he cared about what any of these people thought or who saw. But he’d grown up with two moms and he’d come out when he was fifteen. He pulled his foot off of Dex’s seat and leaned forward to lower his voice. “You really want me to kiss you here?” His grey-green eyes were earnest. “Right now?”
Dex was taken aback by the question, blinking once or twice as he thought about it. He wanted to - he glanced around the room and nobody seemed to give a shit that they were there at all, really. It was the self-centred part of anxiety that made him worry about this kind of thing but this wasn't home. Nobody was going to take a picture of him and it would get back to his parents - and if it did, well. He cared. Of course he cared. But he wasn't… ashamed of Nursey.
Okay, he was grossed out by some parts of him, namely the locker room habits. But if a photo of him and Nursey kissing appeared, he'd mostly be kind of proud that he was the one who'd managed to catch his eye. He turned back to meet said eyes and realised in a burst of uncharacteristic poetry that they were almost like sea glass, the stuff they sometimes dredged up when the lobsters were fussing or the cages got shifted and dredged through the sediment. He saved it because he liked it and he leant forward and pressed a very gentle kiss to Nursey's lips because he wanted to, as tentative as it was. Testing the waters, so to speak, while hoping he didn't have jam on his lip or something equally embarrassing.
Nursey wasn’t at all expecting it to be that easy. The few times he’d allowed himself to daydream about what kissing Dex would be like, it had involved an argument or a closet or loud music and beer pong to distract any people nearby. He hadn’t let himself think soft and exposed in the middle of the cheesiest donut shop around.
“What...the...fuck, Poindexter,” he whispered emphatically before reaching over to tuck his fingers inside the neck of Dex’s sweater and pulling him back in for a second kiss. He didn’t press his luck by trying to deepen the kiss but he did linger. His fingers ended behind Dex’s ear, lightly tangling into his hair. “You should’ve warned me you were gonna be slick. I would’ve suggested somewhere with menus for us to prop up at the end of the table. Like a privacy gate,” he smirked.
If Dex hadn’t been blushing before he definitely was as soon as Nursey’s fingers hooked in his sweater, his eyes widening just a little in shock when he was pulled in for another kiss that he didn’t resist, melting a little into it when he felt Nursey’s fingers brushing lightly through his hair. It was nice. Softer than he’d imagined any of this going and honestly, a lot less terrifying and like the world was going to end.
“I don’t know if I’m being slick or if you’re just a lot less slick than I thought you’d be,” he grinned a little, gently bumping his nose against Nursey’s before he pulled back because they were in a donut shop and while people weren’t staring, he had a feeling they probably weren’t as enamored as he was with the situation at hand. “I guess your hunting and gathering is acceptable after all,” he smirked, taking another donut to bite into it.
“Wow, rude,” Nursey laughed. He ran his thumb over his bottom lip, without realizing it, and settled back into his side of the booth. To be fair, Dex was right. He wasn’t especially slick when his real feelings were involved. When he didn’t give a shit, he was way cooler.
He slipped one of his feet in between Dex’s, just threading their knees together a little under the table. And so what if he nearly knocked over his coffee cup as he reached for it. He caught it and juggled it up to his mouth to drink from it with amusingly wide eyes. Once he took a fortifying sip, he held the mug between his hands and reached for a donut of his own.
“How about this,” he mumbled around his first bite. “You can pick the next place we hunt and gather.”
His cheeks went red again at the brush over his lips, the casual touches that he really wasn't used to and wouldn't admit it straight out the gate, but he was- really enjoying them. More than he dared to think of and hope.
"I'll have to look around and see what I can find," Bitty probably had some suggestions but he also felt like he'd bothered Bitty about this enough for a lifetime. He didn't need to relive his own worries about the proverbial closet through Dex when he was so happy here, even if Dex was kind of surprisingly okay with all of this. He thought he'd freak out and maybe he would if this version of public was home, but it wasn't. Instead, he tentatively reached across the table to take Nursey's hand in his own with a small smile, deciding that yes, this was just fine. This was good, in fact.